1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the enjoyment of media broadcasts. In particular, the present invention relates to a system that employs a combination of statistical prediction and real-time sensing to intelligently locate and capture desired media content from a plurality of broadcasts for private enjoyment by a user.
2. Description of Related Art
Technology advances have given home audiences access to an enormous number of broadcast media channels. Most home users now have access to hundreds of video broadcast channels through cable and satellite television systems. Home users with Internet capability have access to thousands of Internet audio broadcast channels. In many cases, users want to enjoy only a specific media element (such as a specific television show or audio track) but are unable to do so because the user is not available to view or listen to the media element at broadcast time or, in the case of audio tracks, the user does not even know when the desired audio track is scheduled to be played.
In accordance with a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, video recording devices have been permitted for enabling home users to “time-shift” (that is, record and subsequently view) their desired video broadcast. Most commonly, a user consults a published television schedule and manually programs their video cassette recorder (VCR) to record that program. Increasingly, digital “personal TV services,” such as TiVo® from TiVo, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., have made video time-shifting easier for the home user. In particular, TiVo® allows the user to simply enter a specific show title after which the TiVo® device automatically accesses an electronic television schedule and programs itself to record that show for later viewing.
Unfortunately for the home audio user, TiVo®-like time-shifting of desired audio track transmissions is made difficult because radio stations, including Internet broadcasters, are prevented from pre-publishing their audio track play schedules. Additionally, the number and nature of Internet broadcasters continuously grows and varies, and many Internet broadcasters are “free-form” and would not have schedules to publish even if permissible. Thus, the capturing and enjoying of desired broadcast audio tracks has been difficult for the home user.
Several types of sites/services have emerged attempting to serve the needs of the person searching for audio content on the Internet, including community based file sharing services (e.g., Napster, Scour Exchange, and Gnutella), “personalized” broadcast services (e.g., launch.com, MongoMusic, and TuneTo), and commercial fee-based MP3 download sites. Companies such as Napster have created communities in which its user base can trade content between them. However, substantial legal problems exist with the Napster model, as users perform direct user-to-user copying as opposed to personal, single-user time-shifting of broadcast content. Aside from the legal problems that it is currently faced with, Napster has other problems as well, including a user interface that requires a labor-intensive user experience, as well as dependence on peer-to-peer trust as the sole means of ensuring adequate sound quality and search accuracy.
Personalized broadcast services such as launch.com typically learn about the musical tastes of a listener through a series of questions, and then offer a custom radio station based on the user's profile. However, while these services can “steer” the user to certain channels they may like, they cannot directly satisfy content-based requests from the user. Moreover, even if they could perform such content-based functionality, there are strict restrictions on broadcasting would that prohibit the stations from such direct “music on demand” type of activity. This inherently limits the effectiveness of services such as launch.com which promise radio broadcasts tailored to an individual's personal tastes.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an automated system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations for subsequent and/or simultaneous private enjoyment.
It would be further desirable to provide such system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations even where the broadcast stations do not make their broadcast schedules available to the public.
It would be still further desirable to provide such system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations that may be flexibly adapted to conform to changes in the copyright laws related to time-shifting.
It would be even further desirable to provide such system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations that provides consistent media quality.
It would be still further desirable to provide such system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations that may be easily adapted for wireless implementation, and/or that may be easily adapted for wireless cooperation with a variety of other information appliances.
It would be still further desirable to provide such system for locating and capturing media content from broadcast stations that provides a straightforward, “non-techie” user experience.